Translated form the “Rede Mistica Femenina do Meio Popular” Canoas, Brazil 1/24/2010
The first phase of the feminist movement dealt with women’s basic rights, for example the right of women to vote and be elected to political office.
The second phase, exemplified by the thoughts of Simone de Beauvoir and her quote “One is not born a woman, but becomes one” brought about the questioning of cultural and societal norms .
Today, eco-feminism is considered to be the third phase.
Eco-feminism proposes that the struggle for women’s rights should not be separated from the struggle for reparations to ecosystems that sustain life. The main argument is that all questions of domination are interconnected and that in order to understand how the oppression of women and the depredation of natural resources came about, we must look at the relationship between the various systems in which power is constructed.
Eco-feminism unites culture and nature permitting women to value their identity by developing new ways of inclusion in our society, rescuing the value of their intellect and work and also respecting and preserving all manifestations of life.
By incorporating an ecological vision, the feminist movement recognizes the presence of both feminine and masculine principles in nature, and in this way, allows us to see how these principles are also present in both women and men. This concept allows us to get closer to our male and transgendered brothers and sisters so that together we can develop a culture of peace through the reconciliation of the masculine and feminine in every human being.
